Building structure interlocking mechanism



y 7, 1957 J. J. BERGER 2,791,003

BUILDING STRUCTURE INTEIRLOCKING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 4, 1952 rfi '51 23 [5' W4 A f?" //20 11;; 2| Y J32 J M-L W INVENTOR. JOSEPH JBERGER.

BY WIMLQME ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 0 BUILDING STRUCTURE INTER-LOCKING MECHANISM Joseph J. Berger, Miami, Fla. Application February 4, 1952, Serial No. 269,810

3 Claims. (Cl. 20-.2)

The present invention provides vcertain improvements in building structures, particularly building structures of a prefabricated or knock-down type.

While such structures are erected in many instances with the intention of being more or less permanent in character, in the usual type of such structures there actually is frequent and rapid deterioration due to imperfect shielding of the structures against ingress of Wind, moisture, rain, and other weathering influences, and the attempts which have been made previously to the present construction to safeguard such buildings against such deterioration have resulted in increased structural complexities and attendant difficulties in erection and maintenance.

The present invention has among its objects the provision of pro-fabricated structural or building units which can be assembled quickly and economically into weathertight relationships without requiring the use of special tools or equipment for erection, and which are highly economical to fabricate in commercial production.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a pre-fabricated building structure which may be erected and the elements thereof strongly and rigidly secured together without requiring the use of nails, thereby niinimizing waste or loss of strategic material while providing rigid and strong interlocks and connections between the parts that will remain rigid and tight, and which retain their strength and tightness unimpaired through indefinite- 1y long periods of time which m be considered permanent in character; and since the improvements provided by the present invention eliminates the use of nails or at securing instrumentalities, it is within the purview of the invention to provide a simple type of coupling device for uniting the various elements of the structure in the aforesaid strong and tight manner, and to provide such coupling means as may be included conveniently in the knocked-down elements for shipping without likelihood of loss or damage.

' Another important object of this invention, in connecwith a building structure comprising a plurality of IQQf panels including spaced rafter members, vertically disposed wall panels including upper and lower beams and horizontally arranged foundation structure, a stabiliner sealer member intermediate the roof panels and upper ends of the wall panels, and a stabilizer water sealer table and shoe mould intermediate the lower ends of the wall panels and foundation, is the provision of a coupling assembly comprising a coupling plate secured to the upper wall panel beam of each panel and a coupling element having movable interlocking engagement with said plate to compensate for expansion and contraction of said beams, said element being firmly attached to a rafter member for rigidly binding the roof we s ab l ze a d a Pane n a din a y structure, and additional means at the lower end of each r l ass fsr b ss aa 'r sallss a 111$ ls a end at tl s war Pan l s ab l se and ater table memb nd 2,791,003 Patented May 7, 1957 foundation structure into ,a unitary structure and thereby elfecting a unitary building structure.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, and the features of novelty will be pointed out in particularity in the appended claims.

The invention will be understood more readily from a consideration of the accompanying drawings which show an illustrative embodiment of the inventive concept that is readily adapted for quantity commercial prodnction.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary vertical section of the upper end of a pie-fabricated and knock-down building structure comprising an outside wall panel and roof overhang portion at one side of a building and showing the coupling device located at the upper end of the panel.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section through the lower end of an outside wall panel assembly opposite to that of Fig. 1, including a wall stabilizer and water seal, and showing the coupling located at the lower end of a panel.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectionalized view of a bottom panel beam and coupling plate showing the head of a coupling bolt in operative position within the plate.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of a coupling plate taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 locking in the direction of the arrows.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 shows an interconnected assembly of two portions of a pre-fabricated, knock-down type of building structure in which A represents a roof panel, and the reference numeral 1 represents a fragment of the top side of the roof panel A having roofing elements 2 applied thereto, while reference numeral 3 indicates a lower or inside ceiling of the roof panel and 3 the overhang portion of said panel, also fragmentarily shown, which is spaced from the top roof side 1 by transversely extending rafters, one of which is shown at 4, the end space between the top and bottom roof panels being closed at the end thereof by an end wall 5.

The resulting roof assembly is mounted on a wall panel B by means of an intermediately positioned top partition or wall stabilizer and sealer member 6, which has an upper planar surface flatly engaging the bottom 3 of the roof panel A and extends transversely thereof, the lower surface being recessed to receive the upper end of the wall panel B. This wall panel comprises parallel wall members 7 and 8, the upper ends of which are secured to the sides of a top panel beam 9 surmounted by a metallic coupling or anchor plate 10 which is provided with a key-hole slot, as shown in Fig. 4, and which serves as a wear plate for receiving the head 11 of a locking device 12, the head 11 being received in a recess 13 in the top panel beam 9, the locking device having a shank sufiiciently long to extend through the rafter 4, and is threaded at its end to receive a lock nut 14, positioned in .a recess 15 provided therefor in the top sur face of said rafter immediately beneath the upper side of roof panel 1. The roof panel 1 may be formed of any Wood or suitable material. The bottom side roof panel may be of some suitable composition such as plaster board or the like and serves as a ceiling panel for a room of which inner wall 7 of wall panel B which serves as one wall may be made of plaster board. The panel beam 9 arranged at the upper end of panel B may be formed of any suitable material, as well as the stabilizer and sealer member 6, though in the present instance, they are made of wood, and as the locking device 12 is made of metal, a hard wear plate such as the plate 10, which may be Su t y n ha de d s el i pr idcd as an a tment surface for the locking device 12.

This plate may be held in place by bolts as indicated at on Figs. 3 and 4, and is formed with a keyhole slot having an enlarged portion 16 and a restricted portion 17, the head of the locking bolt 12 being first inserted through the large portion 16 andthe bolt then drawn into the restricted portion 17 wherein it is locked.-

It will be noted that the interlocking of the wear plate 10 and bolt 12 with respect to the beam 9-of the upper end of wall panel B is similar to that of the wear plate 10, beam and bolt 22 with respect to lockingly securing the lower end of a wall panel B, except that the wear plate faces downwardly instead of upwardly, and which arrangement is shown in greater detail in-Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

The upper portionof wall panel B, Fig. I, having an inside wall surface member 7 and an outside wall surface or member 8 is similar, except facing in the oposite direction, to the lower portion B in Fig. 2, wherein the reference numeral 18 designates an outside wall member and 19 the inside wall member of a panel B. This said outside wall 18 may be composed of marine plywood or the like, and the inside wall 19 may be formed of any suitable material. The panel B is closed at its lower end by panel beam 20, the bottom surface of which may be provided with a metallic (steel) plate similar to the plate 10, the head 21 of anchor bolt 22 being positioned in a recess 23 provided therefor in the beam 20.

The anchor bolt 22 passes through a bottom partition stabilizer sealing shoe mould and water table member 23 upon which the above-described panel assembly is mounted, and then through a joist 24 and sill member 25 and is locked by a nut 26. The member 23 has an upstanding flange 27 which engages the bottom edge of the inside wall member of panel B, and an outwardly and downwardly extending external water table portion 28 which slopes downwardly to a suitable distance beyond the exterior facing 29 of the joist 24 for deflecting rain water or condensed moisture outwardly and away from the building and which is formed with a water drip recess 28. The joist 24 is shown as supporting flooring 30, which is intermediate the aforesaid stabilizer 23 and the joist 24. The bolt 12 interlocks the rafter 4, the roof panel A,,the stabilizer 6, and the upper end of wall panel B into a unitary structure.

There are provided as many anchor bolts as are necessary for anchoring together the various parts of the building for the erection thereof. Such bolts are provided in requisite different assorted lengths for installation in selected locations. It will be seen that the use of nails in the erection is obviated by the use of the coupling assembly including the locking anchor bolts as shown on the drawings, the number of which may be repeated as often as necessary.

The manner of assembling and disassembling the parts will be apparent from the drawings and requires no explanation, and such may be effected by the use of comthe bolt to compensate for the expansion and contraction of the wall panel beam.

From the above it will be apparent in connection with a prefabricatedjbuilding construction or assembly comprising a plurality of roof panels, a foundation structure, and a plurality of wall panels disposed between the roof panels and the foundation structure, and stabilizer device between the upper ends, of the wall panels and the roof panels and between the lower ends of the wall panels and the foundation structure, that I have provided a simple, inexpensive coupling means for detachably rigidly and firmly binding into a unitary structure, the upper ends of each of said wall panels, stabilizer and roof panels and for suitably binding into a unitary structure each of the lower ends of the wall panels, stabilizer and foundations, said coupling means not only bindingly interlocking the entire building construction into a uni tary structure, but also facilitating the erection and demounting of the building as well.

Although in practice it has been found that the form of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and referred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment is the most efficient and practical, yet realizing that conditions concurrent with the adoption of the inventionwill necessarily vary, it is well to emphasize that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts, may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departmon and universally available tools. The hereindescribed t and illustrated embodiment of the improved construction represents a preferred form and amounts to a substantial saving in each case of highly strategic materials in the elimination of the use of any nails in the erection of buildings from the pro-fabricated units and assemblies of the types herein shown and described. The various assemblies are anchored and interlocked together in a strong and desirable manner.

In this connection it might be well to further state that the coupling and anchor plate 10 facilitates the erection of a wall panel B and anchoring thereof at its respective ends by virtue of its key hole construction, the head of the coupling bolt being inserted throughthe opening 16 and the bolt or panel moved to position the bolt in the restricted portion 17 wherein it is locked, said restricted portion permitting suflicient movementof ing from or sacrificing any of the principles of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, What I desire protected by Letters Patent is as set forth in the following claims:

1. A building structure comprising a roof panel structure including a fiat horizontal top member and a spaced bottom member, a spacer rafter beam extending transversely between the roof members, a wall panel, said panel comprising spaced parallel wall members, a beam member mounted intermediate and secured to said wall members adjacent to their upper ends, a stabilizer beam underlying the roof panel and said rafter, said stabilizer beam being formed with a recess for receiving the upper end of said wall panel, and a connecting element anchored in said panel beam and extending through said stabilizer beam and into said roof structure and directly uniting together the wall panel stabilizer and roof panel. 2. A knock-down pre-fabricated building construction comprising a roof panel structure including a hat horizontal top member and a bottom member, a spacer rafter beam extending transversely between the roof members, a wall panel, said panel comprising parallel wall members, a beam member mounted intermediate said wall members and secured thereto adjacent to their upper ends, said beam being formed with a recess, an anchor wear plate secured to said beam overlying said recess, a stat bilizer beam underlying the roof panel and said rafter, said beam being formed with a recess for receiving the upper end of said wall panel, and a bolt means connected to said anchor plate and extending through said stabilizer beam and rafter in said roof structure and directly unit ing together the wall panel, stabilizer rafter and roof panel into a unitary structure.

3. A building structure comprising a roof panel including flat horizontal top and bottom members, a rafter extending transversely between and in engagement with said members, a wall panel comprising parallel wall members, a beam mounted intermediate and secured to said wall members adjacent to their upper ends, said beam being formed with a recess, a coupling anchor wear plate secured to said beam overlying said recess, a stabilizer beam underlying the roof panel and rafter and formed with a recess to receive the upper end of said wall panel, a bolt anchored to said plate and mounted in said panel beam and extending through said stabilizer beam and rafter to unite said wall panel, stabilizer and roof panel into a unitary structure, said bolt having movable interlocking engagement with said coupling plate for compensating for expansion and contraction of said panel beam.

4. A building structure comprising a wall panel comprising parallel wall members, a beam member mounted intermediate and secured to said wall members adjacent to their lower ends, said beam being formed with a recess, a coupling anchor wear plate attached to said beam overlying said recess, a foundation assembly, a supporting beam intermediate said foundation and lower end of said panel, and a coupling bolt mounted in said panel beam and extending downwardly through said intermediate beam and through the foundation assembly for interlockingly connecting the wall panel, intermediate beam and foundation assembly into a unitary structure.

5. A building structure comprising a wall panel including parallel wall members, a beam member mounted intermediate and secured to said wall members adjacent to their lower ends, said beam being formed with a recess, a coupling anchor wear plate attached to said beam overlying said recess, a foundation assembly, a beam intermediate said foundation and the lower end of said wall panel, said beam being formed at its inner edge with an inner wall member engaging upstanding flange adapted to brace said member and to provide a water seal to prevent the ingress of water into the building, and a coupling bolt extending downwardly through said intermediate beam and the foundation assembly for uniting said wall panel, intermediate beam and foundation into a unitary structure, said bolt having movable interlocking engagement with said plate for compensating for expansion and contraction of said panel beam.

6. A building structure comprising a roof panel including a fiat horizontal top member and a spaced bottom member, a spacer rafter beam transversely extending between said top and bottom members, a wall panel, a foundation assembly, said wall panel comprising parallel wall members, beam members mounted intermediate and secured to said wall members adjacent their ends, the exposed surface of the respective beams being formed with a recess, a coupling wear plate secured to each panel beam overlying said recess, a stabilizing beam underlying the roof panel and said rafter and formed with a recess to receive the upper end of said wall panel, a bolt movably anchored to said coupling plate and extending through said stabilizer beam and rafter to secure the said wall panel, stabilizer beam and roof panel into a unitary structure by a single locking element, a beam intermediate said foundation and said wall panel, said beam having an upstanding flange bracingly engageable with the inner wall member and to prevent the ingress of water into the interior of the building, and bolt means extending downwardly from said panel beam through the intermediate beam and engageable with said foundation assembly to secure the said wall panel, intermediate beam and foundation assembly into a unitary structure.

7. A knock-down pre-fabricated building structure, comprising, in combination, a root assembly including a pair of flat, horizontal, vertically spaced roof panels, spacer rafter beam means intermediate the roof panels extending transversely thereof and at right angles to both of the said panels, a wall assembly including spaced, parallel wall members, and a horizontal foundation assembly, an upper stabilizer beam means intermediate the lower roof panel and the wall panel and recessed to receive the upper end portion of the wall panel assembly and disposed beneath the rafter beam means, lower intermediary beam means receiving the lower end portion of the wall panel and disposed intermediate the lower end portion of the wall panel and the foundation assembly, an upper panel beam intermediate the wall panel adjacent to the upper end portion thereof and beneath the upper stabilizer beam means, a lower panel beam intermediate the wall panel adjacent to the lower end portion thereof, the upper panel beam and the lower panel beam cooperating to brace the wall members vertically parallel throughout, the upper panel beam being beneath the upper stabilizer beam means, the lower panel beam being above the lower intermediary beam means, an upper coupling plate secured to the upper side of the upper panel beam intermediate the said beam and the upper stabilizer beam means, a lower coupling plate on the under side of the lower panel beam intermediate this beam and the lower intermediary beam, and upper and lower coupling bolt means mounted in the upper and lower panel beams, respectively, and having movable interlocking engagement with the upper and lower coupling plates for compensating for expansion and contraction of the upper and lower panel beams, the upper bolt means being mounted in the upper panel beam intermediate the wall members and extending upwardly through the upper coupling plate, the upper stabilizer beam means and the rafter beam means and constituting the sole interlocking connecting means between the wall panel and the roof assembly, the lower coupling bolt means being mounted in the lower panel beam and extending downwardly through the lower intermediary beam and through the foundation assembly, the lower coupling bolt means being the sole means interlockingly connecting the wall panel to the foundation assembly, the said upper and lower coupling bolt means thereby demountably interconnecting the roof assembly and the foundation assembly into a unitary weatherproof structure.

8. A knock-down, pre-fabricated building construction comprising a plurality of roof panels including spaced rafter members, vertically disposed wall panels including upper and lower beams and horizontally arranged foundation structure, a stabilizer sealer member intermediate the roof panels and upper ends of the wall panels, a stabilizer water sealer table and shoe mold intermediate the wall panels and foundation structure, a coupling assembly comprising a coupling plate secured to the upper wall panel beam of each panel, and a coupling element having movable interlocking engagement with the said plate to compensate for expansion and contraction of the said beams, the coupling element being firmly attached to a rafter member for rigidly binding the roof panel, stabilizer, and wall panel together into a binding unitary structure, and additional means at the lower end of each wall panel for bindingly connecting the lower end of the wall panel, stabilizer and water table member and foundation structure into a unitary structure, thereby eifecting a unitary building structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 960,207 Slater May 31, 1910 1,249,011 Bossert Dec. 4, 1917 1,421,124 Brandt June 27, 1922 1,779,325 Manning Oct. 21, 1930 2,139,623 Marston Dec. 6, 1938 2,300,937 Lahti Nov. 3, 1942 2,349,684 Stannard et al May 23, 1944 2,363,405 Eichelberger Nov. 21, 1944 2,412,242 Beaud Dec. 10, 1946 2,440,763 Todhunter May 4, 1948 2,445,491 Moloney July 20, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,782 Great Britain 1906 865,689 'France May 30, 1941 121,298 Australia Apr. 2, 1946 123,299 Australia Nov. 28, 1946 812,003 Germany Aug. 27, 1951 

